


Lost Kisses

by Felidae5



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Drama, I don't know how to keep things short, M/M, Sad with happy ending, i suck at fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:21:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28343097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felidae5/pseuds/Felidae5
Summary: My Secret Santa gift for SiberianRose. I am soo bad at fluff, but still I hope, you'll like this one. It's quite sad, but does get better.At least there are chibis.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Lost Kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SiberianRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiberianRose/gifts).



_Lost kisses_

_then_

Seto knew his way home.  
Of course he did.  
It was just that, between his father letting him off at the deserted playground and him deciding not to wait for this one's return, it had begun to snow.  
Not much, but enough to make things look different.  
So different that Seto got lost.  
Perhaps not lost, but confused.  
Confused sounded better.  
Determination on his face, the little brunet turned the third alley to the right-  
He was back at the playground.  
Seto felt his lower lip tremble, but swallowed his panic and decided to sit on the swing to wait for his father. Why had he insisted on coming here, when he knew he would be all by himself?  
Because he had wanted it that way. The other kids always mocked him for the way he talked, for being smart. They would push him around and call him things like robot brain or worse. They told him to go back to kindergarden, where he belonged, instead of bothering "us big kids", i.e. second graders.  
They hated him. That's why he avoided them, and that's why he had asked otou-san to come here, when he knew he would not be bothered.  
At first, his father had refused, but finally caved. Besides, it was merely two blocks from their house.  
And yet, he couldn't find the way home.  
He sat there, feeling like the loneliest little boy on the planet...  
"Ne, bon, you lost?"  
Seto's head snapped up. There before him stood a boy about his age with a warm smile, brown eyes and golden hair.  
Blinking, Seto stared at the other boy. He had never seen hair that color. Then he shook his head.  
"I'm not lost," he stated indignantly,  
"just disoriented." It was the blond's turn to stare.  
"De-dis-diser-what?" Seto straightened himself.  
"Disoriented. It means, I don't know which way to go."  
The other boy flashed a grin; twin rows of blinding white teeth shimmering in the dim winter light. The second incisor on the upper right was missing. Reflexively, Seto's tongue darted into the hole in is own mouth, where he lacked the exact same tooth.  
"So you are lost!" exclaimed the strange kid, and Seto frowned.  
"No, I'm not. Being lost means, not knowing where you are. Disoriented means not knowing where to go." The blond shrugged.  
"Sounds the same." Brown eyes twinkled mischievously.  
"Ne, wanna play? We got all for us." Seto shook his head.  
"I'd rather go home." Cocking his head to one side, the other boy mused, then opted,  
"Ne, how about you play with me and I bring you home?"  
Seto hesitated, then nodded.  
"Fine. But not too long. What do you have in mind?" Again, the blond blinked. Then he smiled.  
"You talk funny", he said, and Seto bristled.  
"Does it bother you?"  
Taken aback, the other boy shook his head.  
"Ie, but I wish I talk like that. People can't call me dumb, then."  
"Seto frowned.  
"You don't sound dumb."  
Again, that broad, brilliant smile.  
"Domo, ne. You're the first who tells me that."  
Seto was somewhat flustered; why would someone call the blond dumb? Scowling, he asked,  
"Do you parents say you're dumb, too?" The smile vanished, replaced by a shrug.  
"Not really. They just say I'm not smart." Again, mischief crept onto the boy's face.  
"Wanna bet I can jump off the climbing thing?" Blue eyes followed a gloved, pointing finger to the steel contraption looming menacingly over the opposite part of the playground. Seto gulped.  
"From..there? But- that's much too dangerous", he rasped. The blond, already halfways there, threw back over his shoulder,  
"Dame! It's pretty easy, watch!" Swift as a squirrel he climbed the ornate metal frame, then moved hand over hand his way to the center of the parallel beam.  
"On three! One! Two!" He let go and fell towards earth. Seto's heart plummeted into his stomach. The blond landed safely on his feet, counterbalanced when he lost his footing in the snow and straightened himself with a flourish.  
"Ta-daa!" Seto was amazed. He had of course seen other kids do that, but those were usually older children; even most in his class would have probably hesitated.  
If only he were this brave...  
"Your turn."  
Blue eyes widened the size of saucers.  
"Wa-watashi-? Ie, no way, that's much too dangerous! What if I fall and break a leg or an arm or-"  
"Don't worry, I'll catch you", promised the blond. Seto paused.  
"You? You can't catch me. I'm too heavy for you." His playmate preened himself.  
"Ne, I'm big and strong. All say so. And you're not soo heavy."  
"Sou desu, ne, but..."  
He gazed up at the parallel beam, far, far above him. Set against the pearl-grey, flake-dotted sky, the darker metal seemed dull and menacing.  
"Ne, it's real easy. Watch."  
Again, the blond scaled the frame, hung from the parallel beam and dropped to earth.  
Seto shivered.  
"Are you some kind of acrobat, or something?"  
A chuckling, rolling laugh, strangely deep for someone their age, then,  
"Ne, °chichi to haha call me +chibi-kitsune. Because I'm so wild."  
Seto could see it. The blond was all fire and warm and fun and wild and brave and strong and playful and just great.  
And he hadn't made fun of him for being afraid nor the way he talked.  
Seto felt something like a flutter in his stomach and he nodded.  
"Promise to catch me."  
"Promise."  
One hand over the other, one foot upon the previous; the climb seemed near endless. He didn't dare look down, afraid he would fall down and break something.  
From below, his newfound comrade urged and cheered him on, and eventually, Seto hung from the parallel beam.  
He couldn't move.  
He couldn't will his fingers to let go.  
Yet, gravity began to pull at him, and his hands tired...  
"Let go! I'll catch you!" The call shook him from his stupor. Glancing down, he saw the other boy, arms outstretched, reaching up in expectation. Awaiting, beckoning him.  
Seto drew a deep breath and let go.  
The collision was not half as bad as expected.  
The blond boy had actually managed to catch him, but then been pushed over by the force of the impact. Yet, there had been no pain.  
Now, as he lay on top of his guardian angel, trying to catch his breath, Seto wished he could be anywhere as strong and brave and true as this one.  
"Ne, said I'd catch you." Seto nodded, but didn't move.  
He felt so save here, like this. Not in the way he did when his parents held him, but in a different, new, exciting way. He snuggled up against the fluffy jacket underneath him.  
"Ara, get up, the snow's cold", came a low voice, and Seto scrambled to comply.  
They both stood there, one grinning, the other panting, then the blond said,  
"See, told you it was easy. Now let's go home." He patted the snow from his back and did the same to Seto.  
"Ne, don't want your 'kaa-san to be angry." Seto nodded, as he followed his guide through the narrow streets.  
"^O-kaa-san went for Christmas shopping with my little #otoutou", he stated. The blond's face lit up.  
"I got an imoto, and she's the cutest little girl ever! When I grow up, I'll marry her." Seto felt a pang of strange anger cross his heart.  
"Don't be ridiculous," he mumbled, "you can't mary your sister. It's against the law."  
His new friend merely rolled his golden eyes.  
"I know. But I gotta protect her from all the bad guys, ne?"  
He couldn't fault that thinking. Gradually, the surroundings grew more familiar, and then Seto pointed at a large, vastly decorated Christmas tree.  
"There! I know where we are, now! We need to turn to the left here, then circle behind the tree into the road! Our house is the fourth on the left!"  
The blond beamed and nodded, but made no attempts to move. Seto, a few steps ahead, turned with a puzzled frown.  
"Are you coming?" His companion smiled, but not at him.  
Large golden eyes stared transfixed at the tree shimmering and glistening in its decorative glory. Voice almost a whisper, the boy replied,  
"We went to ~oji-chan's last year. In America. We had a huuuuge tree like this, but bigger. And it had these tasty swirly sticks and chocolate and real candles and mistydos."  
Seto, who had rejoined the blond, asked,  
"You mean mistletoes? Real ones?" His friend gazed at him, lost in the fond memory.  
"Uh-hn. You know what mistytoes are, ne?" Seto, offended that someone dared question his knowledge, sputtered,  
"Of course I do. They're bushes growing in tree tops. The trees feed them, they don't do anything themselves. They're like pets for the trees."  
The blond boy giggled, and Seto's heart fluttered again.  
"Tree pets. That's funny. I gotta tell imoto that." He started on their way again, Seto falling in step with him. The blond continued,  
"Ne, but that's not it. This are special mistytoes. They got a meaning."  
Seto, who could already make out his house from where they were, shrugged his shoulders.  
"Everything has a meaning. Aren't they supposed to bring good luck?"  
Blond hair flew side to side, and Seto marveled at how long the golden tresses were.  
"Dame, not that. Guess again." The brunet, who had picked up pace, muttered,  
"Just tell me. I don't want to guess." A hint of something he recognized whenever he corrected one of his peers, had crept into his guide's voice.  
"You gotta kiss the person under the mistytoe."  
The brunet stopped dead in his tracks. They were standing in his driveway, just within the small wall surrounding the house and garden, and Seto had one hand buried in his pant pocket, closed around his house key.  
Yet, he merely gaped at the blond.  
"Ki-kiss? As in a real kiss?" The other boy nodded.  
"Sure. Usually you kiss girls-"  
"Ewww." Seto made a face. His vis-à-vis looked surprised.  
"You don't like girls?" The brunet shook his head fervently.  
"They're always loud and nosey and whiney and screeching and just annoying." The other boy shrugged.  
"I think they're ok. Not all, but many." Again, that warm, dazzling smile.  
"Ne, you ever been kissed?"  
Seto felt his face flush and his heart skip a beat.  
"Na-nani? I mean, would-would you-but there is no mistletoe!" he sputtered, his mind reeling. The blond shrugged.  
"I don't think it matters. It's just a bush." Blue eyes, wide and alert, took in the other boy. Wild, tousled golden hair, beautiful big brown eyes, reddened cheeks...  
"I-uhm, to, say, I mean..would..would you mind kissing me?" he heard himself say. The blond perked up.  
"]Mochiron. Here," he pressed his lips against the brunet's forehead,  
"\do itashimashite."  
Seto felt betrayed.  
"Is that all?" The blond looked puzzled, then kissed the tip of his nose. Again, Seto bristled in protest.  
"No, I mean a real kiss!" he declared, and this time, the blond drew back. Golden eyes regarded him quietly, then his face neared his. He pressed his lips against Seto's.  
It was as if a ray of sunlight danced across them; his new friend's lips were soft, softer than anything he had ever known. He held perfectly still, as the other's mouth gently moved against his own, testing, caressing. Eventually, the other withdrew and Seto felt somehow empty. Again that warm soft smile that made his heart flutter, but this time there was a foreign spark within them.  
He lfited his hand to caress the other's face, when from inside the house came the faint chime of the large grandfather clock in the entrance.  
The blond perked up and paled a bit.  
"Matte, how late is it? I haveta be home by four!" Seto pushed the rim of his left glove upwards to reveal the wristband of-  
"A watch? You got a real watch?" Seto nodded proudly.  
"So desu ne? Why, don't you?"  
The blond squirmed uncomfortably.  
"Ne, I'm bad with numbers and those weird letters are just too hard to read."  
Seto then proceeded to teach his kitsune -because that was the best term he could find to describe his blond friend- how to read the clock. Eventually, the blond nodded.  
"Ne, I guess I got it. But I really gotta leave or 'kaa-san will be mad. Ja ne, and ganbatte!"  
He ran towards the entrance, then turned and, walking backwards, called,  
"Ne, I don't know your name! What's it?"  
"Seto", replied the brunet,  
"and you?"  
"Katsuya" yelled the blond, as he stepped onto the curb and was suddenly silhouetted against an oncoming set of headlights.  
Seto wanted to scream a warning, but no sound came out.  
The screeching of tires, a cut-off yell; he saw his kitsune flying, flying, red and gold and red and then his little kitsune lay in the snow and the snow turned pink.  
And then there was noise, and more noises and people running and screaming and crying and ambulance and police and all he saw was his kitsune lying, lying in the snow, still, so still, in the forever pink snow.

O-kaa-san was dead.  
His beautiful, beautiful mother had died, trying to avoid running Katsuya over.  
An his little Kitsune was fighting for his life.  
Outou-san had barely spoken, and his hair was all grey now.  
At least his little brother had come out umharmed.  
Now, as he sat here, in the hallway of the ICU, he waited for..he didn't know what.  
When they arrived, he knew it.  
He knew them.  
The eyes, the noses, here a strong chin, there a delicate cheekbone, a blond ponytail with a touch of red and grey, an almost angelic face...  
Katsuya's family consisted of }youkai, that much was clear.  
No, his little sister was a tenshi, a true angel.  
Sweet and precious and so quiet, she sobbed gently into her mother's chest, not knowing exactly why, but that her ani was hurt.  
Seto watched Katsuya's family react to the bad news.  
His father was a tengu, his mother...tsurara-onna.  
She was very pretty, but not Kaguya-like.  
That's what dad had always called mom; Kaguya-hime.  
And now the princess had returned to the stars.

He was introduced to Katsuya's family, and when they learned who he was, they allowed him to see Katsuya.  
His blond friend looked..terrible.  
There were so many bandages, bandaids, cracks, bumps, bruises and scratches marring his face, tubes and hoses leading from and to the small body laying on the gigantic bed, he barely recognized him.  
Seto looked at his friend, his chibi-kitsune, as one tear after another rolled down his cheeks.

It was three weeks later, four days after Katsuya had woken, that he was again allowed to see his kitsune. His heart was in his throat, when he entered the room.  
Katsuya looked much better than the last time he had seen him. Head cocked to one side, he smiled, though somewhat shyly.  
Seto, flower in hand, walked up to the blond and offered the chrysanthemum to him. Golden eyes widened, then brightened and Seto's heart fluttered again.  
"Arigatou, ne. That's so kind of you", exclaimed the blond as he accepted the white flower and smelled it. Seto asked,  
"Da-daijoubu ka? Are-do-when can you leave?" Katsuya shrugged.  
"Dunno. They say I'm still risky."  
"You mean, at risk." Katsuya nodded, then winced.  
"My head still hurts sometimes, and I get these..pictures." Seto frowned.  
"What pictures?" The smile faded.  
"Bad ones. Dark ones." Golden eyes rose again, quizzically.  
"Ne, who are you anyway?" Seto froze. How could Katsuya have possibly forgotten?  
"You..don't remember?" he hushed. Katsuya shook his head and grimaced again.  
"Ne, I don't know anything. They say a car hit me, but I can't remember." His voice grew low and somber.  
"I-I don't remember anything that day."  
Seto shook, his small heart breaking. How could that be?  
How could kitsune, his little kitsune, forget that they had played, that he had helped Seto overcome his fears? That he had brought him home and, most of all, kissed him?  
Katsuya regarded him puzzled.  
"Ne, daijoubu-"  
"So you don't remember anything?" Seto pressed through grit teeth. Katsuya, now worried, frowned.  
"Ie, the whole day's gone. It's all missing."  
The brunet had heard enough. With a mumbled farewell he turned on his heel and slid out the door.  
Kitsune, his little kitsune, didn't remember anything.  
Not their playtime, not the accident, not their kiss.  
At this moment, Seto decided to never love again.

_ten years later_

He had grown braver, bigger, stronger, fiercer, everything in order to protect the ones he loved.  
Everything for Katsuya.  
When tragedy struck anew and found Seto and his brother in the orphanage, he had promised himself that, once he had found his kitsune, he would never let go of him again.  
Life had taken almost all his loved ones, but at least Katsuya was still alive and waiting out there. When Seto learned that a "Katsuya" fitting his memory attended Domino High, he was quick to enroll.  
When he first saw him again, his heart fluttered.  
There it was, the set of big, beautiful golden eyes, the cocky grin, the wild blond tresses.  
But this..this was a mutt, a cowardly street dog.  
Where had his proud, brave kitsune gone?  
Who was this foul-mouthed creature, who jumped at his own shadow and was too stupid to realize, he was the village idiot?  
And he still didn't remember him. Instead, he snapped and cursed and yelled and talked back at him, just to cower in fear whenever Seto rose to the challenge.  
No, he was not worth Kaiba's protection.  
And yet, Seto's heart ached, yearned for those lips, those warm, golden eyes to gaze at him fondly, as they had way back when.  
He had tried so much, aside of directly triggering the memory. It wouldn't do for either of them to go through the trauma, the agony, again.  
But he couldn't go on like this, it was eating him alive.  
So he decided on the most cliché of plans.

Jounouchi had behaved, and Seto had noticed.  
Now that the Christmas party neared its end and one by one the guests retreated to their designated guestrooms(the mansion was spacious enough), he cunningly coaxed the blond near one of the many mistletoes hanging about the place.  
Jou, wary of his host, had done his best to stay away from his classmate, but now he was trapped between the CEO and a passageway leading to the staff's dorm.  
He took a cautious step to the side, concious of his almost empty glass, and Seto moved in.  
"May I kiss you?" Jounouchi's mouth went southwards, no sound escaping. Then he regained his wits and sputtered,  
"Wha-wwhat-but-nani?!? Seto replied calmly,  
"You're standing under a mistletoe."  
Jounouchi glanced up to see the small, decorated twig.  
"Huh. So I do." He returned his attention to the brunet.  
"Still doesn't explain why ya wanna do it." A low sigh.  
"I merely wanted to repay you for the one you gave me, all those years ago."  
Jounouchi waited.  
Waited for the pun, the condescending smirk.  
Nothing happened.  
He narrowed his eyes and groused,  
"Gomen, but in what screwed-up level of your VR-Game did that happen?"  
Seto's face remained impassive.  
"Not a game. The driveway of my parents' house. My old home."  
"Whoa, hold it, hold it, hold, it, are ya trying to tell me, that I stood in the driveway of your house? When was that?" Chestnut brows creased.  
"What do you remember about the accident?"  
Time ticked by. Jounouchi, glass in hand, stared at Seto, suspicion, a quiet anger rising.  
"Did you hack into the police files? My medical history?" The anger flared up in a hot burst.  
"Ya sick, demented psycho! What the fuck do ya think you're doing, snooping around in my-"  
"I did not hack into any history, because I stood right there and watched you being hit!" Seto roared back.  
Remembering where they were, he yanked the perplexed Jounouchi into one of the adjacent rooms and shut the door behind them. Jou was still stunned, but composed himself. Seto, leaning against the door, arms crossed, iterated,  
"You-I had lost my way and you brought me home. We passed a Christmas tree and you told me about your grandfather's and the mistletoe tradition. And then you kissed me."  
Brown held blue, then Jounouchi drove one hand over his face. When he regarded Seto this time, it was with a mix of pity and chagrin.  
"Kaiba, are ya seriously expecting me to believe that?"  
Unerring, Seto continued,  
"You kissed me, and I tought you how to read he clock. You started for home, but turned around and asked me my name. You gave me yours when I replied and then the headlights..."  
Jou's eyes had turned dull and dark, his face ashen. Seto knew he was taking a high risk, but he was too far gone by now. Quietly, he asked,  
"Does that mean, you really don't remember anything about the accident? The one that cost our mother her life and almost killed you? Because I do, and I will never forget my little kitsune lying in the blood-soaked snow."  
Jou's head shot up.  
"Wait, what?"  
Seto repeated,  
"The snow-"  
"No, not that. What did ya call me?" A hint of a smirk, tinted with sadness.  
"Kitsune. Chibi-kitsune." Jou bristled.  
"How-why would you call me that? Who told you that?" This time, an almost-smile.  
"You did. You told me that your parents would call you that because you were so wild."  
He was quick to catch the glass that fell from nerveless fingers. Jou's voice dropped an octave, sending chills up and down Seto's back, asking,  
"What do ya want?" Seto placed the glass on a nearby table.  
"You."  
He closed the distance between them, standing slightly behind Jounouchi.  
"I want my kitsune back."  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
"Yes, yes, you do. He's still in there, somewhere. I know it. We just have to find him. And if not for me, then for yourself."  
One cool, clammy hand cautiously searched for a strong, flinching one, gently, shyly asking for permission to touch. Firm, calloused fingers closed around pale, slender ones.  
"What-what if the kitsune ya remember grew up to have nine tails?"  
A shudder, then,  
"That's a risk I'm willing to take."  
And this time, a wry smile, a twinkle of dangerous gold.  
"That kiss mean that much to ya?"  
"We are here, aren't we?" Jou cocked his head sideways.  
"So desu, ne." He turned around and softly pushing the taller brunet up against the door, touched his lips against Seto's.  
It was so much better than he remembered.  
Not only because it was more determinded, more straightforward, but also because he was both physically and mentally able to truly enjoy the vast range of emotions it triggered.  
A soft nip, and Seto practically turned into a puddle. A lick at an earlobe, and long legs trembled. Lips touched his pulse and he supressed a whimper, a cry.  
"M' tired", mumbled Jounouchi against his adam's apple. Seto nodded, hefted the blond up in his arms and carried him to his own bedroom. Placing him on his king-sized bed, he helped his love undress and snuggle under the cover.  
Jou, one leg already under the comforter, paused, when he noticed the two plush toys at the end of the bed.  
"Heh. A kitsune and a BEWD", he mumbled, as he took hold of the two plushies and pressed them to his chest. He regarded them closer and mumbled,  
"A white chrysanthemum. Funny thing to stitch on a kitsune."  
Then he reached out for Seto.  
"C'me here, bon. Time to go to bed."  
The brunet hesitated, but when Jounouchi smiled than one, beautiful, warm sunlight flittering through the dark smile, he was quick to comply.  
And when he felt strong arms encircle him, pressing the plushies against his chest, he knew that he would never feel as safe as he did in Katsuya's arms.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
And so we leave these two cuties with their plushies. Again, sorry for the sad overtone, but fluff and I don't generally mix.

°chichi to haha: pops and mom  
*chibi-kitsune: little fox. Foxes hold a very dear place in Japanese folklore as shapeshifters, tricksters and even seductors. The  
term 'chibi' means 'little'.  
^(o)kaa-san: mother  
#otoutou: little brother  
~oji-chan: gramps, grampa  
]Mochiron: of course, naturally  
\do itashimashite: Japanese; you're welcome/don't mention it  
}youkai: Japanese collective term for supernatural beings. Here listed are:  
Tengu: famous winged demons; either craw-like or red-faced with long noses  
tsukuru-onna: icicle woman; similar to yuki-onna, but less malevolent  
tenshi: angel  
Kaugya-hime: the story about the moon princess is one of Japan's most beloved tales


End file.
